Bunchgrass Winery

In the early 1980’s, Roger Cockerline became interested in growing wine grapes and planted a small vineyard on his family’s farm. The Merlot grapes from the vineyard were sold commercially to a pioneer Walla Walla winery. Roger and three friends also used some of the fruit from these vines in small lots of home crafted wines. Two of the friends, Gordy Venneri and Myles Anderson, went on to found Walla Walla Vintners.
After Roger retired from teaching, the next logical step was to take his passion for wines and vines to a new level by making wine commercially. With the support of his wife, Cheryl, and his family, the 1943 dairy barn was transformed into a small winery facility. Only 25 cases of wine, all from Cockerline Vineyard grapes, were produced in the inaugural 1997 vintage. Since that first year, production has grown to approximately 500 cases annually. This limited quantity allows us to carry out every step of the process by hand.
A simple twist of fate brought long time friends Roger and Read more »

In the early 1980’s, Roger Cockerline became interested in growing wine grapes and planted a small vineyard on his family’s farm. The Merlot grapes from the vineyard were sold commercially to a pioneer Walla Walla winery. Roger and three friends also used some of the fruit from these vines in small lots of home crafted wines. Two of the friends, Gordy Venneri and Myles Anderson, went on to found Walla Walla Vintners.
After Roger retired from teaching, the next logical step was to take his passion for wines and vines to a new level by making wine commercially. With the support of his wife, Cheryl, and his family, the 1943 dairy barn was transformed into a small winery facility. Only 25 cases of wine, all from Cockerline Vineyard grapes, were produced in the inaugural 1997 vintage. Since that first year, production has grown to approximately 500 cases annually. This limited quantity allows us to carry out every step of the process by hand.
A simple twist of fate brought long time friends Roger and Gordy back together. William vonMetzger, production winemaker at Walla Walla Vintners, was exploring his options for opening a winery of his own. Gordy supported William's interest in a new venture, and he knew that Roger was thinking about retiring. The wheels were set in motion. Meanwhile, Tom Olander and Barb Commare approached Roger independently about the possibility of continuing the Bunchgrass tradition. When the five of them came together, all the pieces fell into place.
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